Axel Moore, a graduate student in biomedical engineering at the University of Delaware, has won a prestigious Whitaker Fellowship to study abroad for a year. The program sends young biomedical engineers anywhere outside the U.S. or Canada for academic or scientific research, coursework, or an internship.

Beginning in September, Moore will join the research group of Molly Stevens, professor of biomedical materials and regenerative medicine and the research director for biomedical material sciences in the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at Imperial College London.

At UD, Moore is part of the research group led by associate professor David Burris, who works on various facets of tribology, or lubrication science. Moore’s doctoral research focuses on the mechanics of human joint lubrication — a subject in which he became interested via a rather circuitous route.